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The bilaterally symmetric rhopalial nervous system of box jellyfish

Skogh, Charlotta ; Garm, Anders LU ; Nilsson, Dan-E LU and Ekström, Peter LU (2006) In Journal of Morphology 267(12). p.1391-1405
Abstract
Cubomedusae, or box jellyfish, have the most elaborate visual system of all cnidarians. They have 24 eyes of four morphological types, distributed on four sensory structures called rhopalia. Box jellyfish also display complex, probably visually guided behaviors such as obstacle avoidance and fast directional swimming. Here we describe the strikingly complex and partially bilaterally symmetrical nervous system found in each rhopalium of the box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and present the rhopalial neuroanatomy in an atlas-like series of drawings. Discrete populations of neurons and commissures connecting the left and the right side along with two populations of nonneuronal cells were visualized using several different histochemical... (More)
Cubomedusae, or box jellyfish, have the most elaborate visual system of all cnidarians. They have 24 eyes of four morphological types, distributed on four sensory structures called rhopalia. Box jellyfish also display complex, probably visually guided behaviors such as obstacle avoidance and fast directional swimming. Here we describe the strikingly complex and partially bilaterally symmetrical nervous system found in each rhopalium of the box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and present the rhopalial neuroanatomy in an atlas-like series of drawings. Discrete populations of neurons and commissures connecting the left and the right side along with two populations of nonneuronal cells were visualized using several different histochemical staining techniques and electron microscopy. The number of rhopalial nerve cells and their overall arrangement indicates that visual processing and integration at least partly happen within the rhopalia. The larger of the two nonneuronal cell populations comprises 2,000 likely undifferentiated cells and may support a rapid cell turnover in the rhopalial nervous system. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
box jellyfish • rhopalium • eyes • neurons • bilateral symmetry
in
Journal of Morphology
volume
267
issue
12
pages
1391 - 1405
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000242617300001
  • scopus:33845667866
  • pmid:16874799
ISSN
1097-4687
DOI
10.1002/jmor.10472
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b82b0362-c3b7-4871-942c-24c7bfe93388 (old id 698901)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:39:33
date last changed
2024-05-11 05:44:29
@article{b82b0362-c3b7-4871-942c-24c7bfe93388,
  abstract     = {{Cubomedusae, or box jellyfish, have the most elaborate visual system of all cnidarians. They have 24 eyes of four morphological types, distributed on four sensory structures called rhopalia. Box jellyfish also display complex, probably visually guided behaviors such as obstacle avoidance and fast directional swimming. Here we describe the strikingly complex and partially bilaterally symmetrical nervous system found in each rhopalium of the box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and present the rhopalial neuroanatomy in an atlas-like series of drawings. Discrete populations of neurons and commissures connecting the left and the right side along with two populations of nonneuronal cells were visualized using several different histochemical staining techniques and electron microscopy. The number of rhopalial nerve cells and their overall arrangement indicates that visual processing and integration at least partly happen within the rhopalia. The larger of the two nonneuronal cell populations comprises 2,000 likely undifferentiated cells and may support a rapid cell turnover in the rhopalial nervous system.}},
  author       = {{Skogh, Charlotta and Garm, Anders and Nilsson, Dan-E and Ekström, Peter}},
  issn         = {{1097-4687}},
  keywords     = {{box jellyfish • rhopalium • eyes • neurons • bilateral symmetry}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{1391--1405}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of Morphology}},
  title        = {{The bilaterally symmetric rhopalial nervous system of box jellyfish}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.10472}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/jmor.10472}},
  volume       = {{267}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}